EFLA wins Darc Awards for The Lava Tunnel

Darc Awards, Lighting design, Lava Tunnel, Awards

7.12.2018

EFLA was awarded first prize in the prestigious international lighting design competition, The Darc Awards 2018, for Best Landscape Lighting Scheme at The Lava Tunnel. In total, 24 international projects, were nominated in the category. This is EFLA's second Darc Awards.

The lighting design in The Lava Tunnel is impressive.

Lighting designers Ágúst Gunnlaugsson from the EFLA KSLD
Norway office and Arnar Leifsson from the Iceland office, collected the award at the Darc Awards ceremony in London on Thursday 6th December.

The Darc Awards are one of the most prestigious awards in the field
of lighting and architecture. The annual awards are hosted by Arc-Magazine, one of the most widely read and
respected lighting design publications in the world.

Ágúst Gunnlaugsson was the senior lighting designer on The Lava Tunnel project was delighted when the results were
announced. "It's wonderful to get this award, especially in the case of a
peer-to-peer award and we're thrilled that so many lighting designers have
chosen The Lava Tunnel as the best project," said Gunnlaugsson via telephone
from London.

People's award

Once the Darc Award longlist has been chosen by
an international jury of independent architectural lighting designers, around 1,400
lighting design practices and their designers are invited to vote on their favourite
projects, making this the only truly peer-to-peer lighting design awards in the
world. The entries were in six different categories; exterior, interior,
landscape, light art, lighting event and product.

Two Darc Awards nominations

In addition to the first prize for lighting
design at The Lava Tunnel, new partner KSLD was shortlisted for the best Interior Lighting Design Scheme for The Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber. The
project also won first prize for Lighting Design at the Codega Award Prize
in November this year.

The Lava Tunnel

Earlier
this year EFLA also received the Icelandic Lighting Design Award
for The Lava Tunnel, which has been a popular tourist destination since it opened
a year ago. The Lava Tunnel is the result of massive eruptions 5,000 years ago;
the dimensions of which have created this impressive interior space. A
decorative collage of lighting colours reveals the unique character of the
tunnel, telling the story of its mineral origins.

The lighting colour palette,
taken from nature's magnificent source, gives guests an unforgettable
experience with almost no visible lighting equipment or cables interfering with
the experience. From the very beginning, the aim of the lighting design was to
maximise the visitor experience, developing a strong interaction between
contrasts, light and shadow, and to intensify the natural colours.

EFLA receives Darc Awards for the second time

This is
EFLA‘s second Darc Award this year and in 2016 the lighting design team were proud to be awarded the Best of the Best for
lighting design at the Langjökull Ice Cave.

EFLA is grateful and honoured to receive this
latest recognition and congratulates all winners and nominees for their projects.